The Great Case
by soldier-john
Summary: Refusing to cooperate with one of the most powerful secret organisations in the world is never a good idea...Even if you're Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, Supernatural and The Avengers crossover. John's pov.
1. Chapter 1

**_NA: This first chapter has little to do with the rest of the story, 'real action' starts on chapter 2. Enjoy! :)_**

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I still remember the day when the letter from SHIELD arrived. It was 9 am in the morning when I'd woke up. Sherlock was still at in the bedroom and I started making breakfast. While the bread was toasting, I decided to check the mail, and immediately a letter with the USA eagle stamped on its front caught my eye.

"What's this?" I whispered.

I turned the letter to see the context, it was surprisingly short and didn't give me much information.

SHIELD

East Coast Dept.

"What the…" I opened the letter wondering what the SHIELD could be, and the first look let me know that it was some kind of official organization, because there was the USA eagle on its top. It said the following:

Dear Mr Watson:

My agency has been trying to get in touch with Mr Holmes, but since there has been no answer, I have decided to contact you, his closest friend.

We have heard about Mr Holmes, and we know, by reliable sources, that he is the best in his field…

"Well, he's actually the only one in his job, he invented it" I thought with amusement.

… and so we need his services to get rid of a case that is being really hard to solve. We are trying to catch a serial killer that has been acting for over five years now, but we still have no clue of who he is or what his modus operandis is. I'm afraid I can't give you more information about it, but it will be a pleasure for me to explain all the details of the investigation and to discuss the case credentials in case Mr. Holmes solves it, he must call to this phone number:

1212890946

Sincerely yours,

Agent Phil Coulson"

I was about to leave the letter on the table and to go take the bread out of the toaster when I saw a little strip of text at the end of the letter, partially covered with the SHIELD stamp, which I hadn't noticed.

Basic credentials for solving the case: 10.000 $

My brain needed a moment to process what I had just read. Then I realized, but I was like in shock.

"But…" I stammered "But… Oh my god. Sherlock… Sherlock! Sherlock!"

I ran to the door of the bedroom and started to knock at it the harder I could, probably creating a dent.

"Sherlock, get out of bed, now!"

No answer.

"Sherlock, please!"

"Okay, calm down, I'm coming" I heard Sherlock answer in a sleepy voice.

I waited nervous in front of the door, re-reading the little paragraph once and again.

"What do you want?" asked Sherlock as he opened the door to look at me annoyed.

"I…" for a moment, I forgot what I was going to say. He was just wearing his blue housecoat undone and… MY red pants.

"What…" I stammered staring at my red pants.

"Oh, for god's sake" He fastened up the bluecoat "Now, what do you want?"

"Sherlock, are those my pants?" I asked him pointing at the pants that I knew for sure that were mine. Sherlock rolled his eyes and was about to close the door when I decided that my pants could wait.

"Sherlock! Wait!" I yelled holding the door to stop him from closing it.

He stopped and looked at me with this so icy gaze that only the Holmes brothers can do, and suddenly I remembered how tiny my pants looked on him and I forgot what I was going to say again.

"Yes, I…" I had to say something quickly, before Sherlock said bored and closed the door "Sherlock, a letter!" I remembered suddenly "This letter" I repeated putting the letter just in front of his eyes. "That's… They say… 10,000 dollars, Sherlock!" I cried at last, knowing I was in shock and wouldn't be able to articulate a complete sentence for a while.

Sherlock took the letter from my hands and started reading it, his eyes passing quickly across the lines. At some point he smiled a little. Then he finished reading, looked at me and said:

"Not interested"

And in front of my terrified look, he took the letter and tore it in little pieces which he threw above his head with a fast breezed movement.

My mouth opened in surprise. Although I knew that money was unimportant for Sherlock, I still couldn't believe what he had just done.

"Don't you smell burning?" asked Sherlock ignoring my reaction.

Although I was debating with myself what to do first, if punch Sherlock in the face or ask him about why he was wearing my pants (which have me really intrigued and also a bit troubled), I realized that he was right, it smelled like…

"Oh my god!" I screamed "The toasts!"

Effectively, when we both entered running at the kitchen, the toaster was on fire.

"Mrs Hudson!" Sherlock yelled, and he began to hit the toaster with a dishcloth. I took a bowl and fill it with water, and a second before I throw it over the toaster Sherlock realized what I was doing and screamed:

"NO!"

But it was too late, and Mrs Hudson crossed the door just in time to see the hellish toaster explode. Then the cupboards that were above the toaster started to burn too.

"Oh, yes, perfect! Thank you, John!"

"But I…" I mumbled trying to process what has just happened while Sherlock was taking his mobile phone to call the firemen.

"There is fire at 221B Baker Street" he said as soon as someone picked up the phone. "Yes, my name's Sher-

"Sherlock, dear, your housecoat is on fire!"

I was very confused and the smoke was starting to make cough, but Mrs Hudson cry brought me back to reality and I realized that, effectively, Sherlock's housecoat was beginning to burn around his ankles, so I ran to him and threw his housecoat away, making his phone fall right in the middle of the hellish state of a toaster. He needed a second to understand where his housecoat was and what had happened to his phone.

"Jooohn!" he yelled, his face turning red as he approached to strangle me.

Mrs Hudson always explains "the story of the hellish toaster" when we have guests and she has drunk more than two wine glasses. Her favourite part is when the firemen arrive to the flat and they find Sherlock and I fighting at the floor between the flames, Sherlock just wearing MY red pants (I still don't know why the hell he was wearing them or how did he get them) and still trying to strangle me.

We ended sitting at the back of an ambulance, Sherlock covered with one of the stupid shock blankets and explaining to me that you never have to try to extinct a fire with water when the object that is on fire is an electric apparel.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of days later, Sherlock and I were trying to reconstruct the kitchen. We had been at IKEA the day before to buy a new cupboard (a traumatic experience I don't want to remember. All I'll say is that I'll NEVER go to IKEA with Sherlock again), and we were trying to assemble it when Mycroft had called me.

"Hello" I said.

"It's me, Mycroft. I've been researching a bit about the secret organisation you had told me about…"

"The SHIELD?"

"Yes".

"So…".

"Well, it's very secret, I couldn't find much about it. As you said, it's American, and all the cases in which they get involved with end up with the destruction of some city or a really high death average on their 'action zone' "

"What? And they want Sherlock's help? Do you think they're a terrorist organisation or something?"

"No, I don't think so. My most sincere advice? Forget about them. Don't try to remember their phone number or their stamp. Don't research about them. Do NOTHING about them."

Mycroft was talking with a very serious voice, but I couldn't avoid insisting.

"But the reward was…"

"John, are you listening to me?" replied Mycroft impatiently "I said do NOTHING, and that's what you're going to do. Good afternoon."

"But…" Mycroft hung up before I could continue talking.

"I don't know what my brother has told you" yelled Sherlock from the kitchen, fighting with a large piece of wood from one of the cupboards "But take his advice".

Defeated, I went to the kitchen to help Sherlock with the cupboard. I took a look at the instructions, which lay forgotten on the kitchen table.

"Sherlock, you're doing it wrong, this two pieces don't go together" I said after finishing reading the instructions.

"Yes, they do go" replied Sherlock stubbornly.

"No, they don't. The instructions say…"

"John, this instructions are obviously WRONG" he said marking the last word and looking at me as if I was stupid "Do you really think that this piece can fit behind these two?" he pointed at some part of the instructions "It's clearly too large".

"Okay, call me when you get tired of fighting with a piece of wood that clearly doesn't fit there" I said walking to the door to go outside for a walk.

"It OBVIOUSLY FITS!" yelled Sherlock from the kitchen as I closed the door.

I ran downstairs, but when I got to the street there was a large black car parked just in front of me. I got a really bad presentiment when I looked at it. It was clearly not Mycroft's style of car, neither Moriarty or Irene's. I tried to ignore a chill that ran down my spine and started walking down Baker Street, but before I could have made two more steps, someone yelled at me from the inside of the mysterious black car.

"Mr Watson!"

"What the..." I murmured as I turned around.

The man that had yelled at me was middle-aged and was wearing a simple black suit, a white shirt and a blue tie. He got out of the car and started approaching me. I doubted if I should run away, but the man seemed to be unarmed and had a friendly attitude.

"My name's Coulson, agent Phil Coulson" he said reaching out his hand when he was close enough.

"Agent Coulson?" I asked as I firmly shook his hand "The one from the SHIELD letter?"

"Yes! The one" he said smiling, glad that I remembered him.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and I remembered Mycroft's warnings against the SHIELD, but I decided to ignore them and keep talking with the agent Coulson, despite how suspicious it was that he had been waiting for me in front of the flat on this black car instead of just ringing the bell and asking to come in. Anyway, if the conversation got into a field I didn't like, I could just turn back and keep walking.

"And what are you doing here, agent Coulson? I thought the SHIELD was a North American organisation"

"Yes, yes, it is, actually".

"So..." inquired I raising an eyebrow.

"Well, as you know, we want Sherlock's help with a little case we're having trouble with"

"Yes, I know, but I thought he had refused the case, hadn't he?"

"Yes" answered he, clearly embarrassed "But Nick Fu... ermm, my boss, still wants his help, and..."

A sudden heavy rain stopped agent Coulson from finishing his sentence. Sudden rain in London was a normal thing, but the way it had started raining, so suddenly and strongly, was very odd.

"Can I..." asked agent Coulson pointing to the 221b door.

There had barely passed 5 seconds since it had started raining, but we were already considerably wet.

"Yeah, sure" I said walking to the door, not really sure about what I was doing. All my instincts were telling me to not allow agent Coulson in.

When we entered to the flat, Sherlock was standing just in front of the door, serious and quiet.

"Sherlock what..."

"I said no" said he angrily, ignoring me and looking at the confused and wet agent Coulson "So it's still no, and it'll be no, so please leave now and save us all an awkward conversation that would lead up to nowhere"

Agent Coulson looked at me with confusion, and I just shrugged my shoulders in response. Then he put his right hand on his ear, as if he was trying to hear better through an earphone, but it wasn't earphone at all. He moved his hand back and suddenly his expression had completely changed.

"I'm sorry Mr Watson" said he in a low whispered voice to prevent Sherlock from hearing him.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

Then everything happened so fast. Suddenly he was holding a gun, and although all my years of experience on the battlefield and all my training, I couldn't react in time. He jumped behind me and put his right arm around my neck, pressing heavily, and with the other hand he hold the gun just above my ear, where if he shoot, I'd die instantly. Sherlock's face grimaced into surprise for a second, and our looks crossed and locked for an instant.

"Now, you're coming with us, or I'm shooting Mr Watson" he pressed the gun against my head harder to show that it was a serious threat.

"Us? You and whom else?"

"Me"

I couldn't turn but Sherlock's expression let me know that the me guy wasn't good news.

"Now!" shouted Coulson impatiently.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming, calm down" said Sherlock in an inexpressive tone and looking at Coulson and the other guy with the iciest glaze I had ever seen. And then, he yelled "Vatican cameos!"

I bend down the fastest I could, making agent Coulson fall with me. I heard a shot and suddenly agent Coulson became a dead weight on my back. I shook him off my back and I raised just in time to see the guy, taking a dart off of his left arm and punching Sherlock in the stomach. I watched with astonishment how Sherlock went flying to the other side of the room and fell right the living-room's desk with a terrible noise.

"What the..."

It was impossible to punch someone so strong to make him fall like 5 meters away from you, wasn't it?

"I'm really sorry, Dr Watson" said the blond guy approaching to me.

"Stay away" I said in a menacing voice "Why don't you stop saying 'I'm sorry' and just leave the flat?"

My words had no effect on the guy. I really didn't expect the fight to end that fast despite the super-strong punch I had just witnessed. The guy throw a hook to the left side of my head to knock me, but this time, without the surprise element, I blended in time and I punched him in the stomach. To be honest, it was like punching a brick wall. Then I felt a heavy pain in the right side of my head and everything slowly faded into darkness.

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**_NA: Thank you to all those who reviewed, followed, etc, I really apreciate it! And sorry for taking so long to update the story, but I was really busy with school, from now I'll update it more regularly :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

It took me a moment to put my thoughts in order when I'd woke up. The first thing I saw was a tall, black man sitting in front of me. He was wearing a large black coat and... an eye patch?

'Is he dressed up as a pirate or something?' I thought, still semi-conscious.

Then I heard Sherlock breathing next to me and I turned to look at him. He was in his 'thinking position', the palms of his hands together, just under his nose; his legs knelt and an intense concentration look. My thoughts were slow and heavy, and I felt a burning pain in my right temple. Suddenly, the ground moved under my feet and I gasped surprised, holding tight to the arms of my seat.

"Air pockets" said the eye patch man looking at me "They're usual in this flight zone"

"Air what"?

Then my brain connected, my thoughts started flowing quickly again and I understood where I was. The white armchairs, the low cell, the tiny and rounded windows... I tried to stand up, but I was buckled in with a safety belt. I took a fast deep breath, trying to put my thoughts in order. The last thing I remembered was a guy knocking me at the Baker Street... How the hell had I got into a plane?!

"Who are you?" I yelled at the eye patch man, I was annoyed and confused "Why am I on a plane?"

"Please, Mr. Watson, calm down. I'm Nick Fury, the leader of the SHIELD" said the man calmly while I tried to unfasten my safety belt, which, apparently, couldn't be unfasten, because it didn't have buckle.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down?!"

I was yelling loudly, but Nick Fury kept looking at me like I was just a child having a tantrum, which, by the way, didn't help to calm me down at all. I was starting to get really nervous. I was on a plane, on a freaking plane, probably kidnapped judging by the circumstances, with the leader of the organisation whom members had knocked Sherlock and I, just a few hours ago (or maybe some days ago, I couldn't know) at our flat in Baker Street, and still he wanted me to calm down?

"I don't want to calm down! I'm on a fucking plane, tied to my seat! Kidnapped!"

"There is a completely logical explan-

"I don't want any logical explanations" I said loosing self-control "I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS DAMN PLANE RIGHT NOW!"

The only time I remembered being that angry and frightened was the time when Sherlock locked me in a lab and made me believe there was a monstrous hound trapped in with me and trying to kill me.

"Sherlock" I said breathing irregularly and trying to control my tone "What the hell is going on?"

Sherlock talked without looking at me, still on his thinking position and with a very calmed voice.

"They have kidnapped us because they want us out of London; apparently we're a hindrance for their plans"

"Please, Mr. Holmes, we're not kidnapping you" said Nick Fury in a voice that let me know that they had had this conversation before.

"Oh, no, of course not!" said Sherlock sassily looking at him without separating his hands "You've just put us on a plane against our will after hitting us and leaving us unconscious, that's obviously not kidnapping at all"

"It was necessary; it's just a preventive step"

"So I must understand that killing Mycroft was just a preventive step, too, mustn't I?"

My heart stopped for a moment. Mycroft? Mycroft was dead?

"What? Killing Mycroft? They've killed Mycroft?" I said astonished.

"No, but they've tried to, which, in practice, is exactly the same" answered Sherlock. I let out my breath with relief.

"Yes, we've tried to kill him, but we had our reasons" replied Nick Fury.

"Sorry, but I don't think that 'we had our reasons' could ever be a good explanation to justify someone that you have tried to kill his brother" I said raising my eyebrows. Sherlock let out a little laugh. Fury frowned, obviously annoyed by our attitude.

"I don't think you quite understand the serious of your situation" whispered Nick Fury "Coulson, please, come here"

Agent Coulson appeared immediately. I hadn't seen him, but apparently he had been standing next to the cockpit door all the time.

"I thought you were dead" I said "Sherlock shot you"

"Not at all" replied Sherlock raising an eyebrow "I just drugged him with one of the darts Mrs. Adler gave me the last time I visited her"

Sherlock had visited Irene? Why? When?

"You visited Irene?" I inquired.

"Yes, about a week ago" answered Sherlock indifferently. I moved a bit on my seat to look at him directly.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

Nick Fury coughed to get our attention.

"It's lovely to see you being jealous about your boyfriend, Mr Watson, but we have to make clear a couple of things before landing and there's no time"

I looked at him questioning. What? My boyfriend? Why everyone always thought Sherlock and I were a couple?

"We're not a couple" I repeated for approximately the 100th time in my life.

Nick Fury and Agent Coulson shared a sceptic look. I heard Sherlock laugh sarcastically under his breath.

"No, really, we're not" I insisted.

An awkward silence followed my words.

"Well" said agent Coulson trying to break the silence "May I?" asked him looking at Fury.

"Yes, please, go ahead"

"Fine. So I'm going to tell you the conditions you're going to be subjected to while staying in our New York base" he looked at us.

"Please…" murmured Sherlock making a derogatory noise. Coulson kept talking ignoring him.

"During this week, your mobile phones will be inoperative, and you're going to be guarded by me during the day and by Steve during the night"

"Who's Steve?" I asked.

"The guy you fought with at your Baker Street flat"

Another awkward silence.

"Coulson, I think you're forgetting something…" said Fury.

"What?"asked agent Coulson confused. Fury threw him a very eloquent gaze "Oh! Yes, yes" Coulson cleared his throat and put a more serious voice "If you try to escape, in any way, or you try to contact someone, we will have to kill you"

Sherlock made a brief smile and said:

"It's nice to know it"

Agent Coulson looked at Nick Fury a bit stunned.

"Any questions?" said Fury ignoring Coulson.

"Not at all" replied Sherlock.

Fury looked at us for a moment, still not understanding why we weren't scared yet. Then he stood up and said:

"I'm going to the cockpit; I need to talk with Captain Rogers. Coulson, keep an eye on them"

"Yes, sir"

Fury entered to the cockpit and Coulson returned to his position, next to the door. While I was asking to myself what had I done to deserve being in that situation (a part from being friends with Sherlock, of course), Sherlock coughed softly twice to catch my attention. Two single and soft coughs, that was our signal to introduce a Morse code message. Without turning my head, I looked at his legs, ready to get the message. He put his hands on them slowly and started taping without making any noise.

'Tap- Tap. Tap-' 'Tap. Tap- Tap-'

That was K.W, our shortcut to 'keyword'. Now the keyword:

'Tap.' 'Tap. Tap-' 'Tap-'

So the keyword was 'eat', one of the easiest words to make with Morse. All right. Now he had to tell me what I had to do when he said the keyword.

'Tap- Tap. Tap-' 'Tap- Tap- Tap-'

KO, I had to knock someone? He pointed at agent Coulson. So, at the keyword, 'eat', I had to knock agent Coulson. Right. I answered with a K, meaning 'okay'. I was going to avert my gaze and get lost in my thoughts when he said, with a little smile:

"I'd be lost without my blogger"

I smiled back and said:

"I'd better start thinking a title to name this case"

"A study in idiots is definitely a good one"

I laughed under my breath and said:

"You know that you always suggest the same title, don't you?"

"Well, it's basically the story of my life" he replied with a resigned expression.

"Should I be offended?" I said joking.

But I never got to know the answer because then the cockpit's door opened and Fury said:

"Get ready to go out, we're landing"


	4. Chapter 4

We had already got off the plane, and we were walking towards the security control to go through to customs. Sherlock and I walked side by side, with neutral expressions on our faces, both completely focused in analysing the situation, I was paying complete attention to Sherlock, waiting for him to say the keyword. Coulson was guarding me, and he held me by the arm, while Fury did the same with Sherlock. We were all quiet, people passed by our side without even looking at us. Fury had changed his weird outfit by a completely ordinary black suit, and although he was still wearing his eye patch, no one seemed to notice. The situation was unreal, and I felt like I was out of my own body; the people passing by, Fury adjusting his earphone, Coulson breathing regularly and pressing my arm harder as we approached to the border control... it felt like a dream, a very, very realistic dream. The only thing that helped me to keep focused, to remember once and again was my military training, to keep a cold head, Sherlock's arm brushed on me as we walked. I knew he was real, I knew he had a plan and I knew that if I followed his instructions we would get away from SHIELD and finding a way to come back to England soon.

We had arrived to the border control, and we joined the queue like the rest of the passengers. Fury was first, then Sherlock, then me, and Coulson at last, bringing up the rear. Fury took off his earphone and hid it on his shirt's collar. The queue advanced slowly, and every second of waiting was like an hour. Seeing all the people around talking, laughing, waiting anxious to meet the their loved ones that were waiting for them in customs, without noticing us, not knowing what was going on right under their noses, it felt really weird. When our turn arrived, Fury left his mobile phone on one of the trays, and so did Sherlock, I, and agent Coulson. We went through the metal detector, the policeman at the other side smiled at us, we picked back the phones from the trays and suddenly we were in the US and nothing had happened. I didn't know what I was expecting, maybe I wanted the metal detector to go off, so they would have had to check our passports and we could have explained everything to the policemen. Why didn't we just do that? Scream 'help' or something and then explain everything to the policemen? I was really considering doing so when Sherlock whispered:

'Eat'

It took me less than a second to ready my brain and tear apart everything that wasn't Coulson and I. I focused, everything slowed down and all the little sounds and movements became clearer in my head. Coulson was probably trained in fighting too, so I had to be very fast if I wanted to surprise him. I had the advantage that, as he was holding my arm, I had no difficulty to locate all the parts of his body without looking at him, but it was a disadvantage too because he would notice every sharp movement I did as soon as I did it. All of these thoughts crossed my mind in less than a split second. I moved my right leg forward, securing me to the ground, and I threw a punch to Coulson's jaw in an upward movement, bending my waist heavily and taking a deep breath. I let out all the air of my lungs in a single fast breath, just at the same time as my fist kicked Coulson's jaw, just next to his chin, with all my strength.

Just after punching him, everything came to its normal speed again. I saw him falling backwards, with a surprise and pain grimace, but before I could check if I had knocked him Sherlock held my wrist tight and pulled me heavily as he started to run. I followed him, running as fast as I could across the airport and without looking back.

I could already see the gates to the outside when someone screamed behind us:

"HEY, STOP! POLICE!"

The scream seemed to come from considerably far, so I kept running behind Sherlock without turning back.

As soon as we crossed the gates of the airport, Sherlock screamed:

"TAXI!"

But it wasn't necessary, because there were several free cabs parked just in front of the airport doors. We jumped into one and Sherlock said, suddenly talking with a very calmed voice and breathing regularly, as if we hadn't been running just a moment ago:

"To Sutter Avenue 133-10, please"

"Okay"

The taxi driver seemed to be very relaxed and he started to move peacefully. I couldn't stop looking back to make sure the policeman hasn't reached the door yet. Every second felt like a whole minute and I started to get very anxious, the slowness of the driver was exasperating.

"Quick, please, we're very late"

The taxi driver looked at us with indifference by the rear mirror, but he finally started the car and we left the parking. I turned around just in time to see a policeman going out of the airport followed by Fury, but they couldn't possibly know that we were on the taxi, already leaving and out of danger. A bit more relaxed, I turned to look at Sherlock, who seemed very concentrated. I had a few questions for him.

"Sherlock"

He answered with a throaty noise to let me know he was listening to me, so I went on.

"How did you know the big guy wasn't coming with us? And why are we going to Sutter Avenue? And why didn't we just tell the police that we had been kidnapped? Wouldn't it have been easier?"

"Kidnapped?" asked the taxi driver, still with the indifference look on.

"I pretended to be asleep for over a half hour after I recovered consciousness, so I heard what Coulson and Fury were talking about and I could draw up a plan" said Sherlock ignoring the driver "The 'big guy' -who is called Steve, just in case you were curious- had to return the plane to someone called Tony Stark, so he wasn't coming with us. He had to catch us before we left the airport though, so we had to act fast, that's why we escaped just after crossing the customs.

About Sutter Street, there's an old friend of mine living there, and he owes me a favour. You'll know more about him when we get there.

And about telling the police about our situation, that was too risky, they probably work altogether with the SHIELD, so it wasn't a good option. You've seen them crossing the airport gates together."

"Fine."

We were silent during the rest of the trip, but although we didn't say a thing, the taxi driver kept throwing us curious looks until we stopped in front of a little yellow house.

Sherlock looked at the taximeter and paid the driver with ten extra dollars.

"The extra money is to make you forget we've been here, understand?"

The driver thought for a moment and then said "Well, I have very good memory, you know..."

Sherlock gave him twenty more dollars "Better now?"

"Yes" answered the taxi driver smiling and ignored us again.

"Idiots" whispered Sherlock as we got off the taxi "They always want to feel that they control the situation"

We got to the door, and Sherlock knocked three single times and said "Lemon Drop"

"Lemon... What?"

"Just shut up and wait"

After a few seconds, we heard someone unlocking various bolts, latches and locks behind the door. Then the door opened and a young ginger woman looked at us through the door gap. When she recognised Sherlock, she opened the door completely and said, with a huge smile "Sherlock! What are you doing here?" and before he could answer she added "Come in, come in, please!"

"We don't have time, Charlie"

She looked at us for a moment, with a serious expression, and then she said "OK, what do you want then?"

"We need a car and a couple of frequency inhibitors"

"Wow" said she opening her eyes a bit more "A car?"

"If it's not too much trouble..."

"No problem, I can manage it for you" said she smiling again "Please, come in while I look for the inhibitors, won't be a moment"

We entered and Charlie went upstairs, leaving us alone. She moved freely, with grace, and was wearing a simple t-shirt, a sport jacket, jeans and trainers. Big headphones hung up around her neck, and he was carrying a tablet and a Harry Potter book.

"Sherlock, who's that girl?" asked I very curious.

"It's Charlie Bradbury, there's no one better than her with computers. I helped her to disappear a while ago" said Sherlock smiling like he always did when remembering good memories.

"Why did she need to disappear?"

"That's none of my business, so neither yours."

Before I could ask more about Charlie, she came back downstairs between running and jumping.

"Here you have" said she handing two little square -shape devices to Sherlock "Who's that, by the way?" added she looking at me but speaking as if I weren't there, as it always happened when Sherlock was around.

"My friend, John Watson"

"Pleased to meet you" said she smiling at me as we shook hands.

"The pleasure is mine"

"Well, about the car" she went on, forgetting me again "I can lend you mine. I won't go out for over a week 'cause I'm working on something important right now, but you have to promise I'll have it back before ten days, okay?"

"Okay"

"So here you have" she handed Sherlock the car keys.

"Thank you very much, Charlie"

"Always there for you"

They hugged for a long gap. I didn't know what to do, Sherlock never hugged people (well, except Mrs Hudson), that was a huge novelty for me, so I just stood there, probably looking pretty awkward and trying to don't look at them directly because it made me feel uncomfortable.

They finally separated and after a last 'goodbye' we left and got on the car.

"Take it" said Sherlock throwing one of the inhibitors to me and leaving the other one in one of his coat pockets "You have to carry it always with you"

"Why?" mumbled I wondering what could have possibly made Sherlock hug someone for that long.

"Just for precaution" he answered "They probably put some kind of locator in our clothes while we slept, the inhibitor won't let them work."

It took me a moment to understand an implicit fact about what Sherlock had just told me.

"So we might have just leaded the SHIELD to Charlie's house?"

"It was a necessary risk"

His face kept neutral while he said that. Sometimes, I forgot how cold Sherlock could manage to be. He had just hugged her like if he... cared.

"You look disappointed" said he without diverting his look from the road.

"Forget it" I muttered.

We kept silent for about an hour, each of us lost in our own thoughts, when I realised that I had no idea about where we were going.

"Where are we going?"

"We're just trying to put all the distance we can between New York and us without leaving the US"

"Without leaving the US? Why?"

Sherlock made one of his 'why is everyone so damn stupid' faces and said, talking to me like if I was 5 years old.

"Because the SHIELD works with the US government, we can't cross the border" he noticed I were going to ask something else and said "I'm still thinking about a way out"

"Okay"

A tense silence formed rapidly between us, but before we could try to start a conversation, a loud sound came of the back of the car and Sherlock lost control of the vehicle. With a sudden yaw, he managed to stop the car at the ditch.

"Damn it..."

"I think we've get a flat tire"

Sherlock glanced at me with exasperation before leaving the car. I swallowed my pride and came out of the car before him. But before we could get to the back of the car, we heard a scream.

"Dean!"

Sherlock and I looked at each other. Whoever was screaming he needed help.

"It came from the wood, didn't it?" asked I, referring to the wood there was at the sides of the road.

"Yes, I think so"

We both kept quiet, waiting for the person to scream again.

"Dean! Dean!"

The cry sounded more laboured this time, and Sherlock and I get running into the wood, trying to find the place where the cry had come from. Then another person screamed.

"Son of the bitch!"

The second voice sounded much clearer, and I found myself running to reach a lake I could suspect behind the last row of trees.

I arrived to the lake.

One of the guys was in the water, fighting to keep on the surface while a… kid? What the hell was that? It looked like a kid but it was extremely pale and his skin had a tint of blue. The body was all skin and bones, and although I knew were the eyes should've been, I could only see a deep darkness and two little trembling light spots. Then the other guy made a screeching sound and I saw him. He was in the edge of the lake, and another of these… creatures, was trying to drag him to the water. He was desperately reaching for an iron bar that was just a couple of centimetres away from his hand. Then the guy (who must be Dean, the one who had screamed with a more clearer voice) saw me, and with an immense effort, because the creature was strangling him, he said "The bar…"

I looked around to see if Sherlock had followed me, but he was nowhere to be seen, so I run to Dean and picked the bar from the ground. But when I was going to give it to him, I paralysed. The creature was even more terrific seen from that bare distance. His eyes seemed so much darker, and it was all skinned around its wrists.

"The bar!" screamed Dean, with his face turning red and his lips getting violet.

I gave it to him still staring at the creature, but then he turned around and hit it with the iron bar. The creature vanished with a strange effect, like if it has dissolved into ashes.

"Please" said Dean. His voice sounded rough and he was breathing quickly, reaching for oxygen "Please, help my brother"

I had completely forgotten about the other guy, and when I looked to the lake it took me a moment to localise him, because he had almost already downed.

"Please!" cried Dean with desperation before starting to cough heavily.

I really didn't know what was happening and I was in shock, so my brain, trained for years to face this kind of situations, automatically switched to 'military mode'. I was in the battlefield again. I had to save that guy.

I took a deep breath, cooled my head and take off my heavy jacket. Then, without a second thought, I jumped into the lake and started swimming towards him. It was difficult to swim with the iron bar on my hand, so when I made it to the guy he had already sunk. I filled my lungs with oxygen and sank before him.

He was there, falling slowly into the darkness of the deeper water, dragged by the creature, and because of my medical knowledge, I knew I couldn't make it to him before it was too late.

But I had to try.

I propelled myself to the deep and stretched my arm the most heavily I could, trying to touch the creature with the iron bar. I only could manage to rub the creature, but apparently, that little contact was enough, because suddenly, it had vanished in exactly the same way the other one did. I propelled myself again and hold the guy passing my arms under his arm. My brain was starting to collapse, it lacked oxygen, and the guy was taller and heavier than I thought. Still, I don't know how, I made it to the surface. I filled my lungs with air desperately, trying to avoid fainting. I heard Dean jump into the water and come towards us. Between him and me, we made it to the edge of the lake, but when we arrived, Dean's brother wasn't breathing.

Dean's face turned to a panic grimace.

"Sam! Sammy!" he didn't get any answer "C'mon Sam!"

"Let me, I'm a doctor"

He looked at me with distrust for a second but then he moved aside. I started trying to reanimate him, using all the first aid techniques I knew. When I was at the second round of mouth to mouth respiration, he seemed to react. Dean pulled me apart instantly and helped his brother to sit up while he said things like "Never do that again" or "Are you okay?", while his brother answered with heavy coughs and looks of confusion.

I was starting to come out of shock, but I didn't have a clue of what had just happened yet. My brain was trying really hard to find a rational explanation to what I had just witnessed. And then I saw Sherlock. He was standing in the wood's boundary, partially hidden by the trees, and he stared at the place where I had made the first of those creatures disappear 5 minutes ago.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sherlock, are you okay?"

We were in a motel, on the outskirts of a little town. After saving Sam and Dean Winchester at the lake, they had helped us to change the flat tire and we followed them to the nearest motel. Sherlock disliked the Winchesters, so I had to do all the talking, and when we arrived to the motel, he only spoke to ask for an individual room. I stayed in the same room as Sam and Dean to avoid paying for a room myself, and because they offered me to stay with them just for that night, since they were working on a case and preferred to do it on their own.  
Once we got to the room I asked them about their work and about what were the creatures in the lake. They looked at each other, like if they were deciding whether to tell me the truth or not.

"You owe me an explanation" I said "I saved you"

"Seems fair" said Sam looking at Dean significantly.

Dean didn't seem to entirely agree, but Sam insisted, so they started talking, and I listened.  
At first I thought they were joking. I suppose that's what everyone does when someone tells him that his job is hunting supernatural creatures – yes, ghosts, monsters and that kind of stuff- in order to save people's lives.

"Saving people, hunting things, the family business" Dean summed it up.

Then I laughed.

"So you- you're telling me… What?"

I laughed again, but their faces remained serious.

"You're not joking" I realized "You…"

"Listen, man, what do you think the creatures of the lake were? You saw them, with your own eyes. Those creatures are what we're trying to hunt right now. Water ghosts"

"Water- what?"

The conversation went on for about 5 minutes. Once I accepted… well, the truth, they started to talk about salt, burning corpses and holy water.  
And I listened, with genuine interest and a weird excitement growing up inside of me, that kind of excitement I always had when Sherlock and I where right in the middle of a case. They explained some of their hunting stories, and I couldn't stop asking questions. Most of the situations they had gone through reminded me vividly to my army days.

When I said that I wanted to help them with the case, they looked at me with concern and tried to make me understand that their job was awful, tedious and lonely. And dangerous, very dangerous. But I didn't care, wasn't that very near to my job with Sherlock? Danger? Loneliness? Investigating? Finding clues? Capturing the 'criminal'? And they weren't lonely, they had each other, like Sherlock and I. Obviously I did understand what getting involved in that kind of job meant, but I just wanted to give it a try.

"There's no giving a try there, dude" said Dean (I had already noticed that sometimes he was a bit overdramatic) "Or you're in, or you're out, there's no in-between"

But I insisted. I had saved them, I was already involved in the water-ghosts case, I had the right to participate and help them to solve the case.

"I was a soldier, I know how to use guns and other weapons, and I'm also a doctor, I could be very useful. And I don't mind hard work; I can help you with the research part as well"

They stood silent for a moment. Then Sam said:

"Maybe we should let him help us just this time"

"What?" cried Dean "Are you mad? We can't get him involved!"

"But he's already involved, Dean, I see no harm in-"

"Dude, no, forget it" (See? Overdramatic)

They went on arguing for over a minute, but finally they agreed to let me help them with the investigation next day. JUST with the investigation, no hunting.

"And your... friend? He's not coming, right?" asked Dean.

Sam threw him a warning look that Dean deliberately ignored.  
Suddenly I felt so guilty, because I had forgotten Sherlock completely. I should be with him, trying to cheer him up, or at least giving him some company. Maybe he was having a hysteria attack right now; I remembered very well what had happened with the hound thing...

"I'm going to talk with him now; can you give me the keys? I don't want to bother you when I come back"

"Don't worry, just knock at the door, Sam and I are going to watch some TV now"

I didn't want to be impolite, but I had already lost enough time with all the talking, so I just said "OK", and left the motel room.  
I was going to knock at Sherlock's room door but I realised it was opened, so I entered and there was I, standing at the threshold, looking at Sherlock, who was sitting on his tiny motel bed in his thinking position and dressed in pyjamas, with the bed clothes messed all around him and on the floor, and I found myself asking him if he was okay, when he clearly wasn't, and had been waiting for me for more than two hours.

As I expected, he didn't answer, so I stepped a bit closer to him.

"Sherlock..."

"Leave me alone" he whispered.

There was a dangerous warning tone in his voice, but I made another step and repeated:

"Sherlock, I..."

"I've said LEAVE-ME-ALONE!" cried Sherlock.

He screamed without looking at me, and for a second I considered leaving and waiting for him to be ready to talk, but then I understood that his 'senses against intellect crisis' was not going to pass just by waiting. So although I wasn't very sure about what I was doing, I sat beside him on the bed so that he didn't have to see me if he didn't want to, and said:

"I'm sorry"

After that there were two minutes of silent, but I thought that the best would be just waiting for Sherlock to speak. If he wanted totalk, he would, and if he didn't, I'd just sit beside him until he said something, he left or he felt asleep.

"I heard everything" whispered he still staring into space "Your conversation"

I thought very well what I was going to say before saying it.

"And did you believe it?"

There was a moment of silence, and Sherlock closed his eyes. For a second I thought he had felt asleep, but finally he answered:

"No"

"It's okay" said I after a little pause. And then, a bit unsure on the inside but with a confident voice, I added "Still I'd like you to come with us tomorrow. Even if there isn't any monster, ghost or whatever, we'll probably need your help to solve the case".  
Sherlock opened his eyes slowly and looked at me with confidence.

"You WILL need my help" he corrected me "I'll come"

I tried hard not to smile because suddenly I felt so proud of myself and so glad to know that sometimes it was Sherlock who needed me and not the other way round. Often I had the feeling that I was totally dispensable for Sherlock, and knowing he needed me almost in the same way I needed him was… great.  
Then I realised that probably that's was the reason why lots of people mistakes us for a couple, because we need each other in a way they can't understand. We need each other because when one of us is not around the other feels lost, because we're like the two sides of a coin- no, we're like light and dark, or life and death, like the head and the heart… because we're almost opposites but we can't function without each other.  
At that point I realised that we had been just in silence and staring at each other for almost a minute, and I opened my mouth to say something, but the words didn't came. Then Sherlock lowered his gaze and I had the weird feeling that he was staring at my lips.

"Right" I said suddenly, with words rushing out. Sherlock raised his gaze again as I stood up and said "See you tomorrow then"

He just nodded in response, but when I was opening the room door to leave, he said:

"John"

I turned around, my hand still at the knob.

"Yes?"

He just stared at me for a split second and then said:

"Thank you"

I nodded, trying to ignore the thoughts that were crossing my messy mind without giving me enough time to analyse them, and left the room feeling weird and with the image of Sherlock's eyes fixed in my mind

* * *

**_NA: I just wanted to thank everybody that reviewed/followed/favorited or just read this story; thank you! Your support means a lot! And especially I wanted to thank Akemi713, and Maia2 for suggesting me to get a beta reader. Thank you Coni you absolutely perfect human being (or may I say frost giant?) for your patience and you inconditional support! You're so sahdgjs that I can't even tell you how much I love you!_**

**_Also I needed a break from all the action stuff, I'll get back to it in the next chapter. Thanks again for reading! :)_**


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